Many applications, such as web browsers, communicate with servers using HTTP. This may result in a significant amount of traffic over a given network being HTTP traffic. Thus, many benefits may be obtained by optimizing and controlling the flow of HTTP traffic in a virtual private network. For example, caching may be used to improve service for repeated HTTP requests. Or, for example, benefits may be obtained by controlling the names of resources requested, and any data sent along with a request. However, the number of different applications using HTTP may make impractical the task of adapting all HTTP applications specifically for operating in a virtual private network environment.
Many virtual private networks and resources within them also require user authentication. For example, a user of a virtual private network may be asked to provide a name and password in order to log on to the network, and also to gain access to certain resources. HTTP cookies may be used to pass authentication information from a client to a virtual private network appliance. Often web browsers are used to manage these authentication cookies.
Several problems may arise in the use of web browsers to manage HTTP cookies to authenticate users of a virtual private network. For example, a user may use a web browser to open a plurality of simultaneous connections to a virtual private network. It may be desirable in this case that the authentication cookie from the first connection be used again to establish the second connection so the user does not have to reenter the authentication information. This feature may be difficult to implement given the variety of cookie management policies across different browsers, such as expiration time, and accessibility of the cookie cache. Also, for example, a user may attempt to open a non-HTTP connection via the virtual private network, in which case the web browser may not be used, meaning the authentication cookie may not be accessible.
Thus there exists a need for a client agent which can intercept and parse HTTP communications and manage cookies in a virtual private network environment.